Monami was still under the effect of anesthesia. She barely managed to understand the whole situation, when she saw water touching her feet. The tank had a faucet attached on the top which was attached to another water tank. Aneesh wanted to recreate the waterfall scene. It's just that here, Monami will be struggling for her life. He turned on the other knob and water started filling in the tank. The drug had made Monami weak, her legs were wobbly.
Kamini aunty was still tied in front of her. Thankfully, she was not in the tank with Monami. Monami managed to hold the walls of the tank and stand firmly. But the water was very cold, worsening the condition. The effect of anesthesia was still very strong. Being in presence of mind was difficult for Monami. Although the water was filling the tank at a slow rate. She sees Aneesh coming in through a small entrance.
" ohh, wakey wakey, M!" He cheered looking at monami through the glass walls of the tank.
Monami could not understand what kind of show he was trying to make. He came closer to the tank, smiling widely like he's caught the fish in the net. He had the look of amusement on his face.
" pata hai, abhi thodi der me yaha audience bhi aa jayegi. Lekin usse pehle mai tumhe game ke rules samjha deta hoo. Tumhari partner hai Kamini aunty. Ab apni partner ke sar ke upar dekho".
Monami looked at Kamini aunty. She was a mother figure to her. And she could not risk her life. She felt guilty that she involved her in all this in the first place. Kamini aunty deserves better. She did as she was told. She looked over Kamini aunty's head and saw a big metal box kind of thing that was hanging on a rope, the same rope tied to a knob in the water tank in which Monami was captivated. The same knob would be used the decrease the flow of water falling in the tank. This knob was inside the glass water tank. Aneesh explained this to Monami. Each sentence followed by a laugh filled with excitement. By this time, water had filled somewhere till Monami's knees. He further said, " game tab shuru hoga jab audience aayegi. Monami tumhare pass 2 options hai. Jab audience aayegi, to iss tank me paani ka flow badh jayega. But, don't worry. Apne right hand side pe wo blue knob dikh raha hai na. use ghuma dena, paani kam ya fir band ho jayega. Lekin. SURPRISE! SURPRISE!. Tum jaise hi wo knob turn karogi, Kamini aunty........boom!!!.
Monami realised what he was talking about. He wanted to see her struggle for her life. Putting a knob in that glass tank is like making fun of Monami's situation. She cannot turn it because the moment she does, the metal box will fall on Kamini aunty. But, if she doesn't turn the knob then she might as well die. Anesthesia makes your immunity system weak and paralyses your nerve cells. Being in water for a long time in such a situation could cause critical damage and monami knew it. There was no way out. Aneesh kept walking around the glass tank, smiling at Monami. She was annoyed at his tricks. But right now she was helpless. Her mind kept going back to Karan's words," life me jab bhi tum kisi bhi musibat me hogi, I'll always be there" and then his " I LOVE YOU", For a moment she smiled. She remembered Sid, her constant support and family. She knew he would make sure that Aneesh gets his deserved punishment. She started making little movements with her body to generate some heat. like jumping a little. But she couldn't do it continuously as her body gives up due to the drugs.
While Karan was still in the house, he heard the sound of someone breaking the front door. He takes his gun out and sneaks in the hallway to find the town police officer there. Deolali and Mumbai police had checked the academy first and Sid had informed them that Monami was going to meet kamini aunty. They had come here to investigate. Karan introduced himself to the Mumbai police and showed them the video and the knife. They confiscated it as concrete evidence. They discussed the nearby areas and where possibly could Aneesh take Monami in that short amount of time. They inquired the neighbors and began patrolling the area. Mumbai police following Karan's orders and Deolali police searching the house for more evidence and patrolling the neighborhood area.
Time is going away faster than outside the water tank. The water has just reached Monami's knees and panic starts to kick in. But she can't show her fear to Aneesh. She can't let him know that his game is working and that she is indeed helpless. So she pretends. Somehow managing.  When he sees that Monami is still very casual, he is irked. But the audience is going to join soon and he doesn't want to ruin the show. For Monami, with every centimeter of water leveling up, she feels weak in her legs. The water is ice cold. But for now she is able to stand . Not to mention, she is still dizzy.
They patrol the area when they stumble upon an abandoned old rowhouse. It's at some distance from the societies. Karan signals the team to take a look at it. They get down from their vehicles and run towards the house. They see trail of water.
Officer 1: yaha to koi rehta nahi hai, fir paani ka tanker yaha kyu hai
A deolali police officer says when he looks at the water tanker standing at the backdoor. The front door is broken down. They check the vehicle for the driver. There are three officers along with Karan. Something about the water tanker and Aneesh's last warning hits Karan. He leads entering the house and commands the other two officers to enter from the backdoor and call for other officers.
The water has reached Monami's waist and her legs seem to have given up. The ice cold water had made her legs numb and now life seems miles away. Her breathing is slow and vision is blurring away. Aneesh is still observing her. But Monami's patience does not seem to give away. To provoke her, he starts moving closer to Kamini aunty. That scared woman starts whimpering but she is just as helpless. He smiles as he comes and stands near her, placing both his hands on her shoulders. Monami notices this and alerts. Aneesh notices this sudden change. To level up this game, he pulls out a small knife( scalpel) and starts pointing it towards her neck. Slowly brushing it against her skin. Monami comes close to the wall of the tank and gives a death stare to Aneesh. He continue to do so until he lands a small cut on the very end of her neck. Kamini aunty flinches in pain and fear. Monami fists her hand on the wall of the tank alerting Aneesh a little. He moves away from her. He walks towards the tank.
" Stay away from her" Monami warns him through the glass wall. Its the only thing that's keeping him alive for now.
Just as he is about to spew some nonsense he hears the breaking of the door and gets excited.
" mai jis audience ka wait kar raha tha wo aa gaye" he says this while looking at Monami and exits through the small entrance.
( medical explanation of Monami's conditon for reader's understanding)
When general anesthesia is induced, the body experiences mild hypothermia ( temperature fall in body). But when under anesthesia and under cold conditions, it becomes extremely difficult for the person's body to create heat. This lack of heat causes the mild hypothermia to severe. water cools a person at least 24 times faster than air because of its conductivity. But Anesthesia weakens the body's immunity system. In such a condition, within 20-30 minutes, the body loses all its strength.
Monami's body has given out as she has been in water for almost 21 minutes now. ( note that the mission was time packed from the beginning) The water has reached to her chest and she loses balance on her legs. For a moment she loses consciousness and starts to float. Slowly death is nearing her. Water reaches her face and within seconds she is completely under water. But reflexes strike in. She opens her eyes to see water and starts to pedal her hands and tries to reach for the glass wall of the tank for support. Kamini aunty, terrified by looking at Monami, struggles to free herself but ends up falling down with her hands tied to the chair.
Karan and one officer break the front door and head in the house. Just as Karan enters, Aneesh greets him and he instantly points his gun at him. The other officer commands him to raise his hands up in the air and surrender himself. Aneesh laughs at the situation and says,
" Karan! Karan! Kitna wait kiya yaar humne tumhara, chalo tumhare liye show shuru karte hai", he raises his hands in the air and points them to follow him. They follow him to enter a godown like space and karan's eyes instantly go to Monami. The water level is continuously rising and she keeps on drowning and coming on the surface again. But she won't be able to do it for long.
" Dekho. DEKHO" Aneesh screams happily while looking at Monami struggle. Finally he is satisfied. His obsession is satisfied. He gives in when the other officer handcuffs him. His smile not fading. Karan runs towards the tank and tries to break it from the outside. But is fruitless. The officers outside follow the command and enter the house. They rescue Kamini aunty and she tells them about the knob. Monami is still struggling in the water and Karan is watching her helpless from the outside. He tries to look for something with which he can break the glass. He looks at the chair that Kamini aunty was tied to and throws it at the tank. But it doesn't work. Within seconds the rest of the team with all the officers reach there. They disconnect the water flow from the water tanker. But it's no use because the tank is already filled enough. Slowly Monami starts drowning. Her body gives up. She is under water again and this time she may not go up. Her feet slowly touch the bottom and she opens her eyes. The vision is blurry but she can see Karan through the glass. She swims a little to reach the glass and places her hand on the glass wall. Karan does the same from the other side. With tears in his eyes, he says
" Monami, tumhe kuch nahi hogi, I'm here" Not looking away from her. She smiles a little and soon her eyes shut. She has lost consciousness. Karan panics looking at this and starts banging the glass door constantly calling out her name. The rest of the officers come in and they decide to push the glass tank and make it fall on the ground. Ambulance is called. And Kamini aunty insists to stay until Monami is rescued. The strength of 12 officers and Karan, and they are able to do so. Monami gushes out of the tank due to the strong flow of water. But the glass tank was well built. Thankfully, Monami is out of the tank now. Karan rushes to her and taker her in his arms. Her body is ice cold and pulse is almost undetectable. She pats her cheek a couple of times. He gives her CPR and monami starts coughing out water. She opens her eyes a little but soon passes out again.
EPILOGUE
~6 Months later~
Aneesh is in for lifetime imprisonment for murder of Riya and attempted Murder of Monami and Kamini aunty. The rest of the group have been sentenced to 4 years in jail. The training in academy has resumed to usual. Kamini aunty is now celebrating the justice of her daughter. Sid and Monami are back in the academy and have started training. The banter is still going on. They are proud of each other. It's night time now and Karan messages Monami to come out. Monami is wearing a blue dress and steps out of the academy. She meets Karan outside with bouquet of Dianthus ( represents admiration). She happily accepts it. Karan holds out his hand to her and she holds his hand back.
" To, ab kya karna hai" Karan asks casually while pulling her in for a hug.
Monami happily replies," kulfi khane chalte hai !!" and places a kiss on his cheek.
And just like that, hand in hand they walk together. Forever.
THE END